Blog — The Lost In Dreams Universe

‘The Squashbuckler Diaries’ are the daily tales of Joy Shelley’s Life in the Dream. The ‘Lost in Dreams’ books will tell the story of what happens to her at ages 6, 9, 12, 15, and so on. The diaries tell us what happens before, after, and between the books.

Apr 21
Apr 21 S02E07 The Morning After, Part 7: Adventure with the Grandparents

Age: 6, Told by Grampa Walt

“Ha ha!” Joy yells out. “Adventure with my grandparents! Let’s go!”

My granddaughter, the one I just found out about yesterday, is taking us out in Bonny’s Revenge, hers and Justin’s flying pirate warship. She is showing us Justin’s world, Justin’s dream, the world she lives in, the dangerous, crazy, adventure-filled place she lives in. But a few seconds ago she pointed to Mars and spotted the Martian Space Pirates (I guess that’s what they’re called) heading towards us.

Oh, boy. I’ve been with Justin in other people’s dreams. I was with him fighting the most frightening dark monster in the streets of London. I was with him stuck in a dream where he couldn’t find the way out. I knew by this time their life was not easy.

“Let’s get them!” Joy runs to the wheel. “You’ll watch me in action!”

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Apr 20
Apr 20 S02E06 The Morning After, Part 6: Adventureland

Age: 6, Told by Grampa Walt

Joy pulls on the wheel and the ship begins to move.

I look around. We’re picking up speed. She pulls back more and the ship begins to rise into the air.

Suzy grabs my hand. “Should she be driving?” she whispers to me.

Good point. “Uh… Do you want to drive?”

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Apr 19
Apr 19 S02E005 The Morning After, Part 5: Joy’s Ship

Age: 6, Told by Grampa Walt

“I’m sooooo glad you stayed!” Joy is at full energy having just woken up. She raises her hands and looks at them. “This is awesome! Ooh, did you see my toys?!” Joy points excitedly at her...um… fighter spaceship toys, legos that build a cloud, then more war toys. “I got them as a gift from a lava monster after I defeated ninja pirates!”

I nod, not knowing what to say. Next to me, I see Suzy is doing the same. Although she no doubt does know what to say and is trying very hard not to say it.

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Apr 17
Apr 17 S02E004 The Morning After, Part 4: The Granddaughter

Age: 6, Told by Grampa Walt

We both peek in.

Suzy gasps. I want to, too, but I hold it in.

Joy is lying in her small cot in her room.

“She’s soooo beautiful!” Suzy says, keeping her voice low.

“Look at her, even when she sleeps, she looks like a fighter.” I keep my voice own low. ”See that chin. That’s a kid that’s seen hardship.”

Suzy nudges me. “She’s beautiful. Can’t you say she’s beautiful?” she whispers at me.

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Apr 16
Apr 16 S02E003 The Morning After, Part 3: Master Mind’s Story

Age: 2, Age: 6, Told by Grampa Walt

“My name is Master Mind,” the strange half-robot tells me and Suzy in his weird metallic voice. “And I have heard what the two of you have just said about the little pirate.”

“What little pirate?” I say.

Suzy whispers to me, “He means Joy.”

“Ahhh… Go on.”

“You think this place is dangerous for a little girl. Let me tell you how I met your granddaughter.”

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Apr 15
Apr 15 S02E002 The Morning After, Part 2: Bonny’s Revenge

Age: 6, Told by Grampa Walt

Suzy and I climb aboard the ship. Joy is still asleep. Justin is still awake.

As we climb up the ramp, she points at the three very big cannons that are jutting out from the side.

I nod. “They are prepared for war,” I say.

We make it to the top and go on the deck.

Everything’s made out of wood: The floor of the deck, the railing, the cabin, the other cabin-looking thing next to the cabin, the stair leading up to the wheel, the wheel, and mast, and the crow’s nest far above it.

“My god,” she says. “This is where they live.”

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Apr 15
Apr 15 S02E001 The Morning After, Part 1: It’s Absolutely Normal

Age: 6, Told by Grampa Walt

Season 2 begins! Joy is older!

My name is Walter, Walter Shelley.

I am standing on a small grassy island, looking at a huge wooden pirate ship docked right in front of me. My son has named it Bonny’s Revenge.

This has never happened before in my life. But it’s absolutely normal.

Behind me is my apartment. My nice, little, comfortable, fully-paid-for apartment, which is actually in Toronto, Canada. It’s also here, an exact replica, in the middle of a small island, in the middle of an ocean, under two suns, in the middle of my son’s dream.

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Mar 28
Mar 28 #411: Say Goodbye to Childish Games

Age: 5.5, Told by The Red Dragon

“Joy, I have something special planned for today!”

Dragon Father was quite excited as he told this to Dragon Little while she was eating her breakfast of pizza and carrot juice.

I have noticed the number of days that have passed and I knew the date. I knew that tomorrow would be Dragon Little’s sixth birthday. I became excited myself, since I believed that Dragon Father for once would not forget Dragon Little’s birthday.

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Mar 27
Mar 27 #410: The News, Part 13: Goodbye Red Dragon

Age: 5.5, Told by The Red Dragon

“Come here,” she said. “Give me your ear.”

I turned my ear to Dragon Little. Dragon Father, who was atop my head, took the opportunity to jump aboard.

Dragon Little began to scratch my ear and suddenly I felt something I have never felt before. This brought so much pleasure to my entire body, it felt so nice, like true love. I immediately purred. I have never purred in my life.

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Mar 26
Mar 26 #409: The News, Part 12: The News

Age: 5.5, Told by The Red Dragon

“The dragons have been taken away,” the robot dragon rasped.

His voice sounded broken because his body had been broken by the fight. One of his wings an done of his legs were disjointed and broken. His neck was in my mouth, under my sharp teeth, which had already cut into his neck a bit.

He would not live long, and Dragon Father, standing atop my head, knew it.

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Mar 25
Mar 25 #408: The News, Part 11: The Glorious Battle

Age: 5.5, Told by The Red Dragon

We knew we were being led into a trap.

I flew low, following my fake father, a robot made to look like a dragon. Dragon Father, riding on top of me, seemed calm rather than tense. It was his adventure. He had created it in his subconscious. This ist what he had wanted. This ist what he enjoyed.

My fake father looked back and motioned at a volcano ahead of us.

He flew up, then coasted down, gliding into a dark cave entrance at the bottom of that volcano.

For a second, I hesitated. I remembered that sometimes when Dragon Father knows I am part of the adventure, he creates weapons that can cause me great harm, in order to make things harder for me.

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Mar 23
Mar 23 #407: The News, Part 10: Preparing for Battle

Age: 5.5, Told by The Red Dragon

“Tell us where they took all the dragons,” Dragon Father said. “It must be a big place.”

“It is not far,” my fake father said. “Two minutes’ flight in that direction will lead us to an island with another volcano. Underneath that volcano is a cavern big enough to hold a thousand dragons. Our enemies have taken all the dragons there!”

Dragon Father shook his head. “Oh no! Then we have to go!”

I smiled inwardly. Dragon Father was clearly acting and acting badly.

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Mar 22
Mar 22 #406: The News, Part 9: Red’s Real Name

Age: 5.5, Told by The Red Dragon

“My daughter,” the so-called dragon who was my so-called father said to me. “I have missed you!”

I nodded, keeping it to myself what I now knew about this dragon.

“Look!” Dragon Little pointed at Dragon Father. “Dragon Father!” Then she pointed at the elderly fake dragon, “Dragon Father!” She pointed from one to the other as she said: “Dragon Father, Dragon Father, Dragon Father, Dragon Father!”

Dragon Little laughed. Dragon Father laughed. I did not laugh.

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Mar 21
Mar 21 #405: The News, Part 8: To Touch a Dragon

Age: 5.5, Told by The Red Dragon

“Who are you?” The older dragon said to Dragon Little. “Are you a friend of my daughter?”

I looked at them, my mind still in wild disarray, refusing to accept what I was seeing.

Dragon Little was walking towards him.

“We’re best friends!”

Dragon Little was getting closer to the older dragon, when I understood what was about to happen.

“Nooo!” I roared fire at the space between the dragon and Dragon Little.

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Mar 20
Mar 20 #404: The News, Part 8: Slave or Dream?

Age: 5.5, Told by The Red Dragon

I straightened. “Beware, Joy!” I shouted. I would not call her ‘Dragon Little’ in front of a dragon. “This dragon has come to kill us!”

I leapt at the older red dragon that was supposed to be my father.

The other dragon rose into the air and jumped back even as Dragon Father jumped forward to block the way.

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Mar 19
Mar 19 #403: The News, Part 7: Into the Cave!

Age: 5.5, Told by The Red Dragon

I landed in the dark entrance to the cave at the top of the volcano. Here, Dragon Father claimed my father was waiting for me.

I lowered my head and Dragon Little and Dragon Father jumped to the ground.

The entrance was big enough for me to walk through, but it was dark and bended inside so that we could not see the inside.

I had joined their adventure without asking because I needed to make sure that Dragon Father did not teach Dragon Little false things about dragons. Dragons were not creatures of his dream and if he convinced her otherwise, then when the day came and she left her father’s dream, when the day came and she met my former enslavers, she would be equipped with the wrong knowledge.

It was my task to teach her the truth about dragons. Well.. some of it. At least at this young age.

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Mar 18
Mar 18 #402: The News, Part 6: Who Controls the Dragons?

Age: 5.5, Told by The Red Dragon

“There are no dragons on the planet,” I told Dragon Little and Dragon Father once Dragon Little calmed down.

“Ooh, I know!” Dragon Father exclaimed. “They are all off on a mission! We should join them!”

I shook my head somberly, determined to teach Dragon Little about the harsh life that awaits her outside this dream, the harsh life she will eventually be faced with when she finds the way out of her father’s dream.

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Mar 16
Mar 16 #401: The News, Part 5: Reunited with The Red Dragon

Age: 5.5, Told by The Red Dragon

I made sure I approached the planet from behind them.

I entered the atmosphere and spread my wings. From this point on I would glide silently. They will not hear me come.

I glided closer and closer.

Dragon Little stopped to ask Dragon Father for water, turning to talk to him. For a moment I was afraid she would spot me coming towards her.

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Mar 15
Mar 15 #400: The News, Part 4: The Dragon Home Planet

Age: 5.5, Told by The Red Dragon

“There it is!” Dragon Father stopped the silly story he was telling Dragon Little about me as a planet appeared in space in front of Bonny’s Revenge.

“Dragon Planet ahoy!” Dragon Little ran to the very front of the bow and looked down. “It’s so beautiful!”

I was surprised by the fact that Dragon Father succeeded in summoning a dragon planet at all. Last time he tried it, it ended in failure.

I stood up in my hiding place. Will he be able to summon a dragon in his dream? He won’t! It’s impossible! But how did he summon a dragon planet?

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Mar 14
Mar 14 #399: The News, Part 3: Red’s Secret Childhood

Age: 5.5, Told by The Red Dragon

“Let me tell you something you never knew about Red,” Dragon Father told his daughter with a big smile on his face.

He was still helming Bonny’s Revenge as they headed for the ‘dragon home planet’.

Dragon Little pinned her stare to Dragon Father. I listened quite intently, as well. I wondered what he would invent and whether it would hurt me or amuse me.

“Did you know…” Dragon Father’s tone became conspiratorial. “That Red wanted to be a pirate when she was young?”

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